The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1887-03-26
POPULAR SCIENCE.

" ! iAGIT-t t1.t VIC many expert
mcnis which have been made abroad IN
photography will shortly result in the
formulating of valuable process for &C
curately coDying colored pictures, such
rs paintings, chromos, etc. in the true
relations of the respective tints.
IL is reported that at Dresden the ex-
pertinent has been tried Of placing a
nickel iightning-rod on building. The
advantages claimed for this metal are
that, Icing non -corrodible, it will last
longer than iron, and will also keep
bright at the points. which later is very
essential to the efficiency Of rods rs con
durtors of electricity.
The decline Cf the silk industry in
India for which various causes have been
assigned, has at length been proven by
MIR. Wood Mason, an English naturalist.
to be due to destructive parasitic dis
ease Of the worms. The affection seems
TO 10 identical with ''pebrine," which
ravaged French silk worm nurseries from
1919 to Is 5. and was eradicated from
Europe by the discoveries of Pasteur
Among the rarer opc ations of what is
termed pla ,tic, AMI by sir James Paget
decorative" surgery is that by which a
new nose is formed by calling in the aid
Of the tissue of other parts of the body.
This has been done by bringing a flap of
skin cut from the forehead down over
the nasal bones. The Hap retains its
coant ction with the deeper tissures at
point between the eyes 10y means of .
smIll rediclc. and thus its blood vessels
and nerves are not severed.
4 remarkable case OF land subsldence
is reported from lancashire, England.
The ancashirc & Yorkshire Railway
crosses the River Calder on the Whalley
Niaduct. The banks of the river are cx-
ceeding treac herous and has been but re-
Gently repaired. After the Scot II ex-
press lad crossed November / it was
found that tie whole structure had sunk
eighteen INCHES. Examination showed
that the yiaduct was unin iured, so that
trains have been crossing regularly ever
since
An Italian physician has advanced a
new theory Of cholera and method of
treatment. II is that the peculiar M
crobes of the disease resident in the in
testinal canal and the BIO are destroyed
by borax. lie recommends the internal
adm nis,ration Of this compound in
doses Of seventy five grains pc, day His
treatment is based upon his observation
that during the fierce epidemic of 1864
60 the workmen in seven al iacent borax
factories were absolutely free from the
disease. while the disease carried off one
third Of the remainder of the Inhabitants
Of the same villages. His argument is
therefore that borax acts a. specific for
TIL diseaso.
In "A recent issue Of the Vienna An
chronological Society, DR.. NJ. IIalber-
landt discusses tie origin, extent and
significance If tattooing. He does not
believe TIA; t was at first meant merely
as ornament He attributes il 10 a re
ligious significanc' the figures described
on the skin having some reference to the
totemic or ancestral god Of the clan, and
serving As protection to the wearcr. In
latter days, when this meaning had
faded, the figaro became a mere style Of
personal decoration. Dir. Ilalberlandt
draws distinction between tattoo ng, in
which the figures are delineited by in
scrting fine pointed instrument repeat
edly into the skin, and what he calls.
from an Australian word, the manka, in
which pro css the lines are rat he'd or
cut, and the oloring matter rubbed in
This distin ton he maintains as import
ant as an theological criterion.